1999-10-16 04:00:00 PDT Buffalo -- No matter what they call it, their home field has been good to the Buffalo Bills.

As they prepare to host the Raiders tomorrow, the Bills have one of the league's best home records stretching back into the last decade. Opened in 1973 as Rich Stadium in suburban Orchard Park, the yard was renamed Ralph Wilson Stadium last December to honor the Bills' longtime owner. Changing the name hasn't made it any easier on visiting teams.

The Bills are 3-0 at home this year, 9-2 over the last two seasons and 71-20 going back to 1988.

"They've had a lot of good teams here," said Bills coach Wade Phillips in a conference call earlier this week. "This is one of the top winningest teams in the '90s. I think we're third (behind the 49ers and Cowboys) in the '90s in wins. I wasn't here the whole time, but having a good team playing at home is an advantage, especially when you get the kind of crowds we have. We're sold out and they're awfully loud. It's a combination of all that."

And the Bills seem to be continuing with "all that." They have the good team (4-1 overall, 14-7 the past two seasons) and they will have the crowd. All 75,399 seats are likely to be filled tomorrow.

"Football is a game of momentum," said Raiders linebacker Richard Harvey, a member of the Bills from 1992-93. "And with that crowd, when they (the Bills) get the momentum, they don't give it back. The crowd really helps them."

But that doesn't seem to scare the Raiders. Tim Brown, for one, doesn't mind venturing into western New York state even when the weather gets nasty.

"I just love playing there," said Brown. "I wish it was going to be 35 degrees. It's a great football atmosphere like Seattle, Kansas City, those places. . . . You know everybody's (the crowd) going to be into it. It's a situation where we just have to concentrate on our job and try to get it done."

The Raiders (2-3) have actually functioned pretty well this year in front of loud, unfriendly crowds. They came close to winning in Green Bay and Seattle and did knock off the Vikings in the Metrodome.

"This team has taken on the mentality that we have to be tough on the road," said quarterback Rich Gannon. "We have to have that mentality when we take our show on the road. We've done a real good job of that."

Said cornerback Eric Allen, "Maybe we rally around each other a little bit when we're away from home. We try to pick each other up. There's no family or fans, it's just us."

The Raiders lost to the Bills 44-21 last December. Many of the Raiders pointed out that by that 15th week of the season, the team had been decimated. They had lost their quarterback and three quarters of the starting defensive backfield to injury.

Phillips agreed that had an impact, but said the Raiders weren't the only ones hurting that day.

"We had a lot of guys beat up, too," he said with a bit of an edge. "We had about four guys out on defense also last year when we played them. But, yeah, it makes a difference. I think they were leading the league in pass defense last year when we played them. So, they've got a good defensive secondary."

A defeat would be costly to the Raiders' playoff hopes. It could drop them to the bottom of the AFC West by themselves. But despite the consecutive losses, the players continue to put up a brave front. "We've lost three very close football games," said Gannon. "I still feel like we're a good team. I know that's a lot of talk right now. We're working, fighting, doing everything we can to improve. Obviously, if we go on the road against a team like Buffalo and could get a win there, it would be a big boost."

And defensive tackle Darrell Russell thinks the Bills might be nervous. "This is going to be a scary game for them," said Russell. "They're 4-1, they're at home and they know that we can beat them. And they know that we know. They beat us last year, but we didn't have a lot of our defense. We had a lot of things against us. And they realize that. They have to stick to their game plan, they have to get things rolling and they have to stay focused. Because, it's a game that, yes, they can win, but they can easily lose." NOTE: The Raiders were still unsure of offensive tackle Mo Collins' status yesterday. He said his knee had improved a little, but with the artificial surface in Buffalo, the Raiders are unlikely to risk further injury if he's not close to 100 percent.